Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-04-22

this occasion with only one wheel service
able. I suppose the same overcrowding
prevailed all through the fleet; and, in fact,
it always existed when our soldiers were to
be transported by water, and was one of the
most shocking abuses of the service. The
weather was extremely sultry, the hold in
sutferably hot, water was scarce and poor,
and the forward decks crowded. Thirteen
days rations were in the hold; and it was
thought the correct thing by somebody in
authority to g this mass of humanity to
sea in n partially disabled steamer, to risk
the storms that might sweep the Gulf!
just one week passed before the return of
this vessel to Algiers, and then twenty men
were lying sick and helpless with fever,
while one more was at the bottom of the
Gulf; and all this misery the direct conse-
quence of carelessness or recklessness in
the arrangement of the transportation.
/ can say nov what I did not dare to say
then, that some of the things that were
thority were but little better, morally, than
murder.
But, uncomfortable as we were, we did
not grumble a great deal, nor think of our
miseries oil the time. The smell of salt
water is exhilarating-when it is not bois-
ferrous; and the scene presented at the
start outside the bar was gallant and in
spiriting, and calculated to make the men
forget their miseries. The fleet stretched
away in two lines over the smooth surface
of the Gulf; bands were playing; every
body was interested, n many were ex-
cited by the prospect of Il campaign in
Texas. We were passing westerly along
the coast, SO there could be no doubt about
our destination.
The voyage was brief and uneventful.
On the evening of the 7th the fleet
anchored two miles outside the Sabine
Pass lighthouse. On the previous after
noon the more advanced steamers had
Slowed up" for some hours to allow the
fleet to close up.
The flat, sandy shore was in sight during
the last twenty-four hours, and as we
neared the Pass the darkness of the night
was relieved by the glow of distant fires,
which we thought were signals of our APP
proach.
l suppose some thousands of letters
were written on those steamers that night.
Everybody believed that we should disem-
bark in the morning, and that the return
of the transports to New Orleans would be
our last chance of reaching the mail for
many days.
The next morning dawned big with the
fate Of the expedition.
There was nothing SO enticing about the
cooked nations of the soldiers as to cause
them to linger fondly over them. The
mornings allowance was soon dispatched,
and all eyes were turned to the shore.
We saw no preparations to disembark.
The hours passed. on, and the question was
several thousand times asked, "Why don't
We land?" 1t Was varied occasionally by
some of the personal remarks hat the SOL
diers were much in the habit OF making,
among themselves, about the big-headed-
ness and cruelty of men who had two stars
on their shoulders, and who thought it
smart to keep a whole army penned up IN
crowded steamers, like SO many pigs. But
then the boys, like the Generals, were
sometimes ga little of"
Toward noon the explanation of this
strange inaction came. An earthwork
with two or three guns, up in the inlet, had
been discovered, and we could not land
until the gunboats went up and reduced it.
So the gunboats steamed in. One of
the three was thought to be of wo deep
draught to venture into the shallow water;
the other two went CALAMITY in. One was
named the Clifton; the other was the Ari-
IONA.
We saw them go straight up into the in
let and open fire on the shore. The fire
was instantly returned.
The scene of the conflict was less than
three miles away, which at sea Is not a
great distance. The water was perfectly
smooth, save the even swell that great
bodies of salt water have in the serenest
weather. The sky was fair, the sun hot;
everything was peaceful, save the warfare
that was going on up there in the inlet.
We could see the white puffs of smoke
from both sides, rising and drifting lazily
away. Tho reports of the cannon hardly
reached us, though this must have been for
some other reason than the distance.
The action began about noon, and con-
tinued hardly two hours.
Every eye-thousands Of eyes-on the
fleet was strained to see the fight. The
shrouds were filled with eager watchers.
There were no glasses on the Cahawba,
save that which Captain Baker, the master
of the steamer, had. An eager circle sur
rounded him.
More thar al hour Of the firing had
passed, when the Captain excitedly de-
clarcd that one of the gunboats had run up
the white flag!
was so.
Others looked, md corroborated him.
The action went on rather feebly after
this: and soon it was announced that the
| other punboat also had struck her colors!
It was amazing; we could not under
stand it,.
But tho fight was certainly over. and the
| glass o showed a steamer coming down
from the lake, which took n of the gum
| boats in tow, and removed her from our
! sight.
the earthworks, waving their caps-cheer-
mo. if we could have heard it-and ap-
pearing very much delighted.
A boat from the Headquarters steamer ex-
planned these occurrences. The Clifton
had steamed up as near the shore as she
could 90 without grounding, and, while
calamity engaging the batteries, had re-
cceiyed a she'll in her steam-chest, the ex-
u .lich not only scalded many